Question On Towing

Sonders · September 18, 2008

A guy I work with has a 06' Crew Cab 1500 Z71 and is looking into buying a camper. We were checking his truck out and trying to figure out what the best size camper for him to get to be able to pull it safely with his truck would be. He's going to be getting a pull type camper. Any help is greatly appreciated. --Brad--

C & A s Dad · September 18, 2008

You will get answers all over the board on this because there are many opinions. There are some RV forums that offer some good formulas for calculating max length and weight.

I tow a 6500 lb (loaded) 29 ft camper behind a Yuk XL 1500 with a 5.3 and 4.10 gears. It does a great job but I have never had it in any real mountains either.

I would suggest the following to your friend:

If he has 3.73 gears and will be towing in small hills and flat areas, I would not want to go over 5500 to 6000lbs loaded and 28 to 29 ft. Even then, he will need a quality Aux trans cooer, a good brake controler and a good Weight Dist hitch such as an Equal i zer or a Reese Dual Cam.

If he has 4.10 gears and will be pulling in small hills and flat areas, I would stay under 6500 loaded weight and again stay under 29 ft total length.

Other advise that I have from my experience towing my camper.

1) Tow in 3rd with Tow Haul mode engaged

2) Keep it under 55 on 2 lane roads and under 65 on Interstates

3) If he does not have a trans temp gauge, I would recommend one

4) Air bags are also a nice addition and will add a lot of stability to his rig

5) Slow down, leave extra room between vehicles. Remember, you will not win any races while towing, so why try?

gvbhunt · September 18, 2008

You will get answers all over the board on this because there are many opinions. There are some RV forums that offer some good formulas for calculating max length and weight.

I tow a 6500 lb (loaded) 29 ft camper behind a Yuk XL 1500 with a 5.3 and 4.10 gears. It does a great job but I have never had it in any real mountains either.

I would suggest the following to your friend:

If he has 3.73 gears and will be towing in small hills and flat areas, I would not want to go over 5500 to 6000lbs loaded and 28 to 29 ft. Even then, he will need a quality Aux trans cooer, a good brake controler and a good Weight Dist hitch such as an Equal i zer or a Reese Dual Cam.

If he has 4.10 gears and will be pulling in small hills and flat areas, I would stay under 6500 loaded weight and again stay under 29 ft total length.

Other advise that I have from my experience towing my camper.

1) Tow in 3rd with Tow Haul mode engaged

2) Keep it under 55 on 2 lane roads and under 65 on Interstates

3) If he does not have a trans temp gauge, I would recommend one

4) Air bags are also a nice addition and will add a lot of stability to his rig

5) Slow down, leave extra room between vehicles. Remember, you will not win any races while towing, so why try?

I LOVE number 5...

Sonders · September 18, 2008

thanks for the quick reply. I'll pass the info along to him; he's actually going to look at a 26' camper after work, so he should be good.

Nick The Great · September 18, 2008

You will get answers all over the board on this because there are many opinions. There are some RV forums that offer some good formulas for calculating max length and weight.

I tow a 6500 lb (loaded) 29 ft camper behind a Yuk XL 1500 with a 5.3 and 4.10 gears. It does a great job but I have never had it in any real mountains either.

I would suggest the following to your friend:

If he has 3.73 gears and will be towing in small hills and flat areas, I would not want to go over 5500 to 6000lbs loaded and 28 to 29 ft. Even then, he will need a quality Aux trans cooer, a good brake controler and a good Weight Dist hitch such as an Equal i zer or a Reese Dual Cam.

If he has 4.10 gears and will be pulling in small hills and flat areas, I would stay under 6500 loaded weight and again stay under 29 ft total length.

Other advise that I have from my experience towing my camper.

1) Tow in 3rd with Tow Haul mode engaged

2) Keep it under 55 on 2 lane roads and under 65 on Interstates

3) If he does not have a trans temp gauge, I would recommend one

4) Air bags are also a nice addition and will add a lot of stability to his rig

5) Slow down, leave extra room between vehicles. Remember, you will not win any races while towing, so why try?

I LOVE number 5...

It is actually the most important one on the list . . .

(Ok not really, you need the other stuff too, but it is still important)

Outbacker · September 18, 2008

You will get answers all over the board on this because there are many opinions. There are some RV forums that offer some good formulas for calculating max length and weight.

I tow a 6500 lb (loaded) 29 ft camper behind a Yuk XL 1500 with a 5.3 and 4.10 gears. It does a great job but I have never had it in any real mountains either.

I would suggest the following to your friend:

If he has 3.73 gears and will be towing in small hills and flat areas, I would not want to go over 5500 to 6000lbs loaded and 28 to 29 ft. Even then, he will need a quality Aux trans cooer, a good brake controler and a good Weight Dist hitch such as an Equal i zer or a Reese Dual Cam.

If he has 4.10 gears and will be pulling in small hills and flat areas, I would stay under 6500 loaded weight and again stay under 29 ft total length.

Other advise that I have from my experience towing my camper.

1) Tow in 3rd with Tow Haul mode engaged

2) Keep it under 55 on 2 lane roads and under 65 on Interstates

3) If he does not have a trans temp gauge, I would recommend one

4) Air bags are also a nice addition and will add a lot of stability to his rig

5) Slow down, leave extra room between vehicles. Remember, you will not win any races while towing, so why try?

Excellent advice, and I truly wish other people towing would follow those simple guidelines. One important addition I would like to offer, is the tow rating. Ask your buddy to check his tow rating for the truck, and then look at the GVWR of the trailer he wants to pull. Ensure that the trailer GVWR does not exceed the max tow rating. Even better if it falls at the 80% of the tow rating, or lower. Tow safe and you will get to where you are going. Also, one more thing is the brake controller. Recommend that he gets a good brake controller such as a Tekonsha Prodigy. A bit more expensive, but worth its weight in gold when towing.

ricko2 · September 19, 2008

I towed out 24' trailer (about 4500 lbs loaded) with out '06 1/2 ton, towed OK with the Airlift system added to the rear suspension.

However, this truck tows alot better, and cost me about 1/4 the money.

svensk · September 19, 2008

Well ya 3/4 ton 'burbans are tow monsters. I saw one pulling a big skid loader a while back. Plus having the 8.1L doesn't hurt.

ChrisNJ · September 19, 2008

Well ya 3/4 ton 'burbans are tow monsters. I saw one pulling a big skid loader a while back. Plus having the 8.1L doesn't hurt.

AaaaMennn. I had (3) 8.1's and miss them everyday. GM left a big gap with discontinuing the 8.1 before the 4.5 deisel comes out. Plus Ford dropped their Excursion too. Us burb towers need soemthing, the 6.2/6sp is currently doing the deed for me, and pretty well, but you can tell it doesn't like it.

C & A s Dad · September 19, 2008

You will get answers all over the board on this because there are many opinions. There are some RV forums that offer some good formulas for calculating max length and weight.

I tow a 6500 lb (loaded) 29 ft camper behind a Yuk XL 1500 with a 5.3 and 4.10 gears. It does a great job but I have never had it in any real mountains either.

I would suggest the following to your friend:

If he has 3.73 gears and will be towing in small hills and flat areas, I would not want to go over 5500 to 6000lbs loaded and 28 to 29 ft. Even then, he will need a quality Aux trans cooer, a good brake controler and a good Weight Dist hitch such as an Equal i zer or a Reese Dual Cam.

If he has 4.10 gears and will be pulling in small hills and flat areas, I would stay under 6500 loaded weight and again stay under 29 ft total length.

Other advise that I have from my experience towing my camper.

1) Tow in 3rd with Tow Haul mode engaged

2) Keep it under 55 on 2 lane roads and under 65 on Interstates

3) If he does not have a trans temp gauge, I would recommend one

4) Air bags are also a nice addition and will add a lot of stability to his rig

5) Slow down, leave extra room between vehicles. Remember, you will not win any races while towing, so why try?

Excellent advice, and I truly wish other people towing would follow those simple guidelines. One important addition I would like to offer, is the tow rating. Ask your buddy to check his tow rating for the truck, and then look at the GVWR of the trailer he wants to pull. Ensure that the trailer GVWR does not exceed the max tow rating. Even better if it falls at the 80% of the tow rating, or lower. Tow safe and you will get to where you are going. Also, one more thing is the brake controller. Recommend that he gets a good brake controller such as a Tekonsha Prodigy. A bit more expensive, but worth its weight in gold when towing.

+1 on the Prodigy. It is a great unit that is still very simple to operate.

bigbengalbubba · September 19, 2008

You will get answers all over the board on this because there are many opinions. There are some RV forums that offer some good formulas for calculating max length and weight.

I tow a 6500 lb (loaded) 29 ft camper behind a Yuk XL 1500 with a 5.3 and 4.10 gears. It does a great job but I have never had it in any real mountains either.

I would suggest the following to your friend:

If he has 3.73 gears and will be towing in small hills and flat areas, I would not want to go over 5500 to 6000lbs loaded and 28 to 29 ft. Even then, he will need a quality Aux trans cooer, a good brake controler and a good Weight Dist hitch such as an Equal i zer or a Reese Dual Cam.

If he has 4.10 gears and will be pulling in small hills and flat areas, I would stay under 6500 loaded weight and again stay under 29 ft total length.

Other advise that I have from my experience towing my camper.

1) Tow in 3rd with Tow Haul mode engaged

2) Keep it under 55 on 2 lane roads and under 65 on Interstates

3) If he does not have a trans temp gauge, I would recommend one

4) Air bags are also a nice addition and will add a lot of stability to his rig

5) Slow down, leave extra room between vehicles. Remember, you will not win any races while towing, so why try?

This is indeed excellent advice. I would also add a good Weight Distributing hitch with sway control. Can't be too safe.

Sonders · September 19, 2008

we were trying to find the tow rating for his truck but couldn't find it. I thought it was on the drivers door; it is on my 00'. The first thing I told him was to get a weight distribution hitch w/ sway bars; I think he's going to check with a couple of the rv dealers around here and see if they have the hitches there. So does anybody know where to locate the tow rating for an 06' silvy 1500 crew cab??

csheatz · September 19, 2008

we were trying to find the tow rating for his truck but couldn't find it. I thought it was on the drivers door; it is on my 00'. The first thing I told him was to get a weight distribution hitch w/ sway bars; I think he's going to check with a couple of the rv dealers around here and see if they have the hitches there. So does anybody know where to locate the tow rating for an 06' silvy 1500 crew cab??

check the glove box for the RPO codes, that you can look up on this site. you need to know the engine probably a 5.3 (L33), and also the rear end, 3.42, 3.73, or 4.10. you can also check to see if it came with a tow package including a transcooler. you can use this site: http://www.trailerlife.com/towratings/2006...ings_p20_33.pdf to get more info.

A 26' should not be a problem with the right setup

C & A s Dad · September 19, 2008

we were trying to find the tow rating for his truck but couldn't find it. I thought it was on the drivers door; it is on my 00'. The first thing I told him was to get a weight distribution hitch w/ sway bars; I think he's going to check with a couple of the rv dealers around here and see if they have the hitches there. So does anybody know where to locate the tow rating for an 06' silvy 1500 crew cab??

Be very careful with the WD hitch. Many RV dealers will attempt to sell you a standard WD hitch that uses two bars for Weight Distribution and a separate friction sway control or two.

In my opinion and most of my reading and research would back this up, you want something along the line of an Equal i zer Brand or a Reese Dual Cam set up. These hitches incorporate the sway control into the WD bars and eliminate sway before it happens as where some of the other styles simply attempt to control it after it begins. Shoot, it money is not an option, look at the Hensley Arrow hitch, it is the premium unit on the market but cost about $3,000.00 compared to $400.00 for an Equal i zer.

I chose the Equal izer over the Reese just because it appears to be a little more simple to set up. However, I have never heard a bad comment about the Reese Dual Cam.

Daniel T · September 19, 2008

1/2 ton Burb, with 5.3L, 4:10 gears, Posi, Magnaflow, modified intake, Equal-I-Zer, Prodigy.

I tow near 8,000 pounds frequently. Follow C&As Dad's recommendations and you can't go wrong.

I have been towing for nearly 40 years now, and a well prepped tow vehicle, good hitch and staying within your vehicles capabilities and all should be fine. a 26ft RV depending on construction and number of slides should weigh in somewhere near 6,500 pounds loaded for the road.

I tow in the mountains often, and as long as you know what you are doing you can do quite well.